Waiting!

Watching the two figures of Xiong Ba and Liu Xiatian, one large and one small, gradually vanish into the shadows of the street, everyone withdrew their gazes.

"Now, the mission is accepted. The next step is how to complete it." Wang Ning looked at the black guide dog in the photo, suddenly saying with a distressed expression, "But the problem is, Raccoon City is so huge; finding a single dog like this is undoubtedly looking for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, this mission has a time limit—only one hour."

Hearing Wang Ning say this, the others couldn't help but furrow their brows.

They were young, after all, and impulsiveness was unavoidable. At the time, they had just declared with soaring spirits that they were "not afraid of danger or difficulty," and then accepted the mission. But when it actually came time to execute it, they had no idea where to start.

"Do you think... we were too rash?" Li Shuangmu said with a troubled look, "We only have this one photo. Aside from that, there are no clues. As Wang Ning said, searching for a dog in this perilous Raccoon City is simply looking for a needle in a haystack. I fear we'll all be wiped out before we even catch a glimpse of this dog."

Zeng Fei's face burned with heat. "I... I don't know... Anyway, I'm only responsible for executing the plan. As for the rest, you figure it out." This guy was even more straightforward, simply washing his hands of the matter. After speaking, he took out a white cloth and began wiping his sniper rifle with the meticulous care one might reserve for a gemstone.

Qian Qianqian was getting anxious. She somewhat regretted following them so blindly and accepting a highly dangerous Hidden Mission, but now... she was so worried she was on the verge of tears, her misty eyes constantly darting toward the direction where Xiong Ba had left.

Yin Kuang, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed, as if he wasn't worried about the current situation at all, even appearing quite confident.

Li Shuangmu suddenly recalled a remark from Xiong Ba: "And you claim to have 7 points of intelligence." What did this imply? Was 7 points of intelligence high? Li Shuangmu didn't know, but he himself only had 5 points. Clearly, in the intelligence category, Yin Kuang was 2 points ahead of him.

Did high intelligence mean one was smarter? To be honest, Li Shuangmu didn't know. He knew that when he had his IQ tested, he scored a high value of 160, which could be considered a genius. But here, that 160 IQ only granted him 5 points of intelligence. Did that mean Yin Kuang, with 7 points, had a higher IQ than him?

Li Shuangmu was unwilling to admit it. It wasn't that he couldn't tolerate others being better than him, but he absolutely could not tolerate being inferior to others. His family's education since childhood had been to mold him into a perfect person, and he had always performed exceptionally well, leading his peers in every aspect. He had always been the pride of his family!

Yet, at this moment, he was stumped.

However, regardless of anything else, it was clearly not the time to dwell on who was smarter, but rather how to complete the mission at hand.

Thus, Li Shuangmu said, "Yin Kuang, looking at your confident expression, do you already have a plan?"

Hearing him say this, everyone looked toward Yin Kuang, and sure enough, they didn't see a trace of anxiety or nervousness on his face.

"That's right, Yin Kuang, if you have a plan, hurry up and tell us so we can all deliberate on it." Wang Ning was overjoyed and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Yin Kuang smiled and said, "Actually, it's not really a plan. Just some thoughts. I don't know if they're right."

Wang Ning was a bit impatient. "Never mind if it's right or not, just say it first. Let's brainstorm. It's better than everyone standing here not knowing what to do, right?"

"Alright, I won't keep you in suspense. Now isn't the time for detailed deduction either." Yin Kuang said, "The mission says Save Guide Dog Mary. Please pay attention to the wording: it is 'save,' not 'search'..."

"This... is there a difference?" Wang Ning asked.

This was also the question on everyone's minds.

"One is 'save,' the other is 'search.' Of course there's a difference." Yin Kuang said, "I don't need to give you a vocabulary lesson, do I?"

"No... alright, I'm listening." Wang Ning realized he couldn't make sense of it and simply shut his mouth.

"Clearly, for the six of us to search the entire Raccoon City for a dog, and within one hour, is an almost impossible mission for us, right? Since it's impossible to complete, then the Headmaster... alright, the Headmaster... actually, I've always wanted to ask who this Headmaster is... why did he issue this mission to us?"

"That... makes sense." Zeng Fei said.

"Look again... what we need to 'save' is a guide dog. Everyone knows what guide dogs are for, right? Helping the blind navigate. Clearly, a dog without rigorous training cannot become a guide dog, and guide dogs are generally very intelligent. So, although we don't know why it got separated from its owner, once it realizes its owner is gone, what will it do?"

"Gone? Naturally, it will go look for him." Li Shuangmu muttered to himself, then suddenly punched his palm. "I get it. That guide dog must be searching for its owner. And a dog's sense of smell is very keen; by following its owner's scent, and relying on the guide dog's intelligence, it would be easy to find its owner. Perhaps it's already on its way here."

Wang Ning shouted, "That's right! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Then... are we just going to wait here for it to come find its owner?" Qian Qianqian asked.

"No!" Yin Kuang said, "The mission requirement is 'save.' Why save? It implies it is currently in, or about to face, danger. If it is already in danger, then we are powerless. For starters, we don't even know where it is. So, we assume it is about to face danger. What should we do?"

Zeng Fei's eyes lit up. "You mean... ambush the surrounding area, wait for the guide dog to arrive, and then act when the opportunity arises?"

A trace of worry flashed in Yin Kuang's eyes. "In fact, the only thing we can do now is wait. We can only pray that everything goes according to my assumption. After all, the randomness of such a mission is too great. I think the reason the Headmaster set no penalty for mission failure might be due to this consideration. However, regardless, since there's no penalty for failure, it's best we make the greatest preparations."

A golden light flashed in Li Shuangmu's eyes, and he picked up a pebble from the ground and began drawing.

A large frame, several small boxes inside, a few lines, and markings for north, south, east, and west—it left everyone feeling confused. Zeng Fei, however, seemed to see some significance in it. "This is..."

Li Shuangmu pinched the pebble and pointed to a spot on the ground pattern. "This is our current location. This is where the body of the blind man, Mike, is located. His body is positioned almost exactly at the center of the crossroads. Here, here, and here—there are three roads that lead here. And this is the tallest building in the vicinity; from the top, we can keep all three intersections in our line of sight."

It turned out that what Li Shuangmu had drawn was a rough map of the surroundings!

No one had expected that this handsome, sunny young man had, without anyone noticing, mapped the surrounding environment into his mind. As a result, the eyes with which everyone looked at him were filled with shock and admiration.

Li Shuangmu said, "Don't look at me like that. Like Zeng Fei, I have been trained in the military. Familiarizing oneself with the surrounding environment is a basic course every soldier must master."

Zeng Fei glanced at Li Shuangmu, thinking to himself, I fear you are no ordinary soldier... However, he didn't say it out loud, instead saying, "Then, I will occupy this high ground."

"Understood. Also, you cannot keep your eyes open all the time. So, Qian Qianqian will be in your group, and she will be responsible for scouting the situation." For a sniper, eyes are more important than life. And Zeng Fei, with his Precision Strike skill, could be considered a qualified sniper.

However, Li Shuangmu's arrangement also carried a sense of special care for the young girl.

Qian Qianqian was quick-witted; her eyes were filled with brilliance as she looked at Li Shuangmu, feeling secretly grateful, yet she was too shy to speak. "I..."

"Even if you stay below, you won't be of much help." Li Shuangmu said.

Qian Qianqian lowered her head and gave a soft "oh."

Yin Kuang asked, "Then what about the three of us?"

Wang Ning also added, "That's right, they have tasks, so what are we doing?"

"Becoming dead men!!"